This Woman's Work
by Little Cinch
Summary: Carol's words to Tyreese tiptoed in whispers through her head as she joined the steady flow of walkers moving toward Terminus. She would kill people. She'd kill as many as it took to get them out again.
1. Little Whispers

**Hi, kittens! Long time, no see!**

**Thanks go out to Fairies Masquerade and meeshie for their help in making this better. I would have given up in frustration without them.**

**What started as a little story has gotten a bit big for its britches, so it's become multi-chaptered. I don't know where it will end up – it'll depend on where the season goes. The first two chapters are my take on Carol's experience during episodes 5 x 01 (No Sanctuary) and 5 x 02 (Strangers). Then we'll check in with Daryl. All action and dialogue from these episodes belong to their respective copyright holders. No infringement is intended – The Walking Dead does not belong to me, and I do not profit from it other than enjoying the hell out of it.**

* * *

><p><em>I'm gonna kill people.<em>

Carol's words to Tyreese tiptoed in whispers through her head as she joined the steady flow of walkers moving toward Terminus. Michonne and Carl were in there, and maybe others, too. She _would_ kill people. She'd kill as many as it took to get them out again.

As she neared the fence surrounding the place, she heard an echoing _bang_. The little bastard they'd caught at the cabin said they were setting off charges in the area to distract the walkers, but this came from within the train yard itself. When she finally got close enough to see, her stomach dropped. Men were pulling Rick up from the ground, bound and battered, and dragging him away. There were others there, too, face down and restrained – Glenn for sure, and was that Daryl? Shit! She tried to see where they were being taken, but the men disappeared around the corner of one of the buildings.

She had to get them out of there, but how? Sure, she had surprise going for her, but she was just one person against all of them. This was suicide.

_So what? You got nothing left to lose._

One thing at a time. She needed a distraction. Heart hammering, she crept along the fence, looking for her way in. She stopped when she saw the big white tanks. Unslinging the assault rifle from her shoulder, she peered through the scope for a better look. It was unsettling to see the beautiful, lush garden beds and the people lined up at the fence killing the clustering walkers. It looked too much like home.

Shaking off the eerie resemblance, she moved the scope over to the biggest tank. Propane. _Perfect_.

A shout caught her attention, and she saw the fence crew sounding a warning. They'd seen the incoming herd at last. The timing couldn't be better – now to add to the chaos. _Let's light this bitch up!_

After firing a few rounds from the assault rifle, she finally punctured the side of the tank. With shaking hands, she lit the fuse of the bottle rocket aimed at the tank and shielded herself behind the guard rail. Despite covering her ears, the explosion was deafening, and she felt the concussion through her whole body. The resulting fiery rain of debris and walker parts made the crazy little voice in the back of her head shriek in glee and whoop war cries over the destruction. But now came the hard part – to get in there and bring her people out.

Carol tucked her gear under the bloody burlap she wore and slowly made her way down to rejoin the herd descending on Terminus. As she stumbled along doing her best to look dead, she squinted through the smoke and tried not to cough – burning walkers smelled even worse than regular ones. There were screams and gunshots all around, but it was difficult to tell from which direction they came or from how far away.

The smoke cleared a bit off to her right. A woman was thrashing and screaming in agony as walkers literally ate her alive. She was beyond the point of words, but her eyes caught Carol's, desperately begging for help – to end her suffering. Carol looked away, feeling queasy as memories of T-Dog's death and the recurring nightmares it had spawned bombarded her. There was nothing she could do without giving herself away, so she shuffled past without stopping.

More gunshots rang out. She tensed as one of the walkers ahead of her fell with a fresh hole in its head. Shit! Trying not to move too abruptly, she pulled out her rifle and ducked into an open doorway. The smoke cleared enough she was able to get a bead on the shooter and take him down, followed by a second man sniping from the roof. Her shots drew the attention of the surrounding walkers, so she slipped inside the building and shut the door. What the hell – this was as good a place to start searching as any.

Carol moved quickly and quietly, alert for any sign of people, but the place echoed its emptiness with every step. All the inhabitants must be outside dealing with the fire and the invading herd – a satisfied smile crept out at the thought, but she squelched it. She checked each doorway she passed, but saw nothing helpful. There had to be something! They took the prisoners _somewhere_, but where?

Finally, she stepped into a storage room of sorts, with everything arranged in neat rows on the tables. Weapons, clothing, tools...toys. An uneasy feeling settled in her gut. These things weren't taken on supply runs. All of this stuff was what you might find on a body – or take from prisoners. Whatever was happening here at Terminus, it was all kinds of screwed up.

Her eyes swept the tables and zeroed in on a watch. She took it and turned to examine it in better light. Rick's watch. The one he'd given to that boy in the cul-de-sac. Is that why Sam never came back? He was taken by the people who lived here? A flicker of guilt made her look away and pocket it safely out of sight.

When she looked up, a shock of recognition arced through her. Daryl's crossbow was on a nearby table piled high with weapons. Her hands shook as she picked it up, imagining what it must have taken to separate Daryl from his bow. What kind of people were these, that they thought they could just take whatever they wanted? Hurt people? Kill them for no more reason than to steal the clothes off their backs? Or was it just because they _could?_ An old fury flared up deep in her belly, burning hotter than she ever remembered.

She'd spent so much of her life taking Ed's shit. He did as he pleased, taking whatever he wanted from her, whenever he wanted it, and she'd been helpless to stop it. For years, she cowered in his shadow, bullied and beaten by the man who loved nothing more than to exploit his power over her. That same fury had burned throughout those long years, but it was only an ember then, muted and suffocated by her own fear and the belief that she deserved his abuse. But she wasn't afraid anymore, and the fire caught and began to spread.

The heat of it crept up her neck as she looked again at the table full of dolls and stuffed animals.

_I'm going to kill people, all right. I'm gonna kill every one of these heartless bastards._

Slinging the crossbow over her shoulder, Carol stalked from the room, still shaking. The rest of the building offered no further clues, but as she stepped into the last room, the back of her neck prickled. It was dim, with most of the light coming from dozens of candles all around. There were names scrawled on the floor with more candles and little tokens by each one. The place was creepy as all hell.

The far door led outside, so she hustled across the disturbing room. Before she got there, she heard a tell-tale click.

"Drop your weapons and turn around. I wanna see your face." The harsh voice belonged to a woman, but that was all Carol could tell.

She glanced again at the door across the room. There were walkers just outside, if only she could reach it to let them in.

"NOW!" the woman screamed.

Carol gave up on the door – it was too far. She dropped the crossbow from her shoulder and lowered it to the floor. From the sound of it, this woman was panicked, desperate, and maybe a little unhinged, and she knew without a doubt she was about to die. So in her own desperate move, Carol pulled her assault rifle from her shoulder and swung around in a wide arc, sending a spray of bullets behind her.

The other woman dropped to the ground at the first shot, her pistol sliding across the floor between them. They both rushed for it, but Carol got there first, kicking it out of reach. Then the breath was knocked from her lungs as the woman tackled her with a shriek and tried to pin her to the ground. Carol grunted as a fiery pain sizzled along her ribs. The woman snarled like an animal as they fought for control of the rifle.

As they tumbled, the other woman's grip on the weapon suddenly slipped, and Carol took the opening. She scrambled to her feet, finger solid on the trigger. The other woman howled and lunged again, but when she saw the rifle's muzzle in her face, her shoulders slumped, and she lowered her weapon. Somewhere in the back of Carol's mind, the crazy little voice was laughing hysterically – this woman was trying to kill her with a candlestick. _Mrs. Peacock in the freaky-ass altar room with the fucking candlestick. _

Mrs. Peacock spoke. "The signs? They were real. It _was_ a sanctuary. People came and took this place-"

"Just tell me where they-"

"-They _raped_ and they killed. And they _laughed_. Over weeks! But we got out, and we fought it. We got it back, and we heard the message! You're the butcher, or you're the cattle." She talked over Carol as though she hadn't spoken. If what she said was true, the people here had truly suffered horrors. After all that, maybe this woman had a little crazy voice, too. Maybe it was the only voice she had left.

Shoving those thoughts aside, Carol demanded again, "The men they pulled from that train car – where are they?"

The other woman didn't reply, lost as she was in self-justification. So with cool clarity, Carol shot the bitch in the leg.

"Where are they?" Carol shouted over the screams.

Gritting her teeth, the woman choked out, "Now...point it at my head." And she laughed. The sound made Carol's skin crawl.

"You could have been one of us," she continued from where she lay on the floor in a spreading pool of blood. "You could have listened to what the world is telling you!"

One of them? Bullshit. She could never be so cruel and callous as them.

_Are you sure?_ _Never ever?_

It was true Carol had killed, but only to protect herself and her family. She wasn't like this woman – this...insane woman. The only thing the world was telling Carol was that you have to fight like hell to keep what you love.

"You lead people here, and you take what they have, and you kill them? Is that what this place is?"

"No. Not at first. It's what it had to be. And we're still here."

Carol lowered her weapon as the fury flared hot again. "You're not here. Neither am I."

She gathered her rifle and Daryl's crossbow and stepped across to the door, pushing it open to allow the walkers clawing at it to enter. They glanced at her briefly but her gory walker disguise meant they ignored her in favor of the fresh meat on the floor.

Carol stepped outside and let the door close behind her, muffling the screams of the woman. For a sickening instant, she was horrified by what she'd just done. Did anyone deserve to be eaten alive? If Mrs. Peacock could be believed, these people had been like her once. They only started killing to protect themselves.

_Isn't that what you're doing right now? Hypocrite. _

No! She immediately steeled herself against the whispers, quashing the guilt. These animals lured innocent people here and murdered them. They deserved what they got. And to save her family, she would do it again.

Keeping eyes out for the living, she crossed to the next building, moving gingerly at the pain along her ribs. The walkers were getting thick on the ground – they'd been drawn to the sound of the explosion, and with the added noise of gunfire, more were coming all the time. She needed to find her people quickly, or they'd never get out alive.

Spotting a gunman picking off walkers from the roof of the main building, Carol ducked behind one of the train cars. Wiping her sweaty palms one at a time on her pant legs, she adjusted her grip on the rifle. Peering around the corner, she waited for her moment, then took him out with a single shot to the head. The little voice crowed in satisfaction before she crushed it into silence again. Slipping quickly along the side of the structure, she checked each door she found, hoping to find one open – hoping to find the door that would lead to her family.

When she reached the far edge of the building, she could see across most of the train yard. Squinting through the smoke, she spotted a group of people – living people – making a break for the opposite fence. Was it them? She scrambled partway up the ladder on the side of a boxcar, desperate for a better angle. As the last of the people climbed up and over the chain link, her heart skipped a beat in her chest. She definitely saw Rick go over. And if Rick was there, anyone from their family that was still alive would be with him.

But what if it was just Rick? A nervous twinge in her stomach reminded her that he could be the only one of her family left alive.

_He won't have you there._

It didn't matter. One thing at a time. Smiling tightly, she dropped back down to the ground and headed for the fences on her own side of the yard. It was a long way around, but she knew where they'd gone over – she could find them. She would.


	2. Outcast

**Again, thanks to meeshie and Fairies Masquerade for some mad beta skillz. Any remaining errors and suckitude are entirely my own fault. About 99.9% of the reader comments on chapter one mentioned looking forward to the Caryl reunion in this chapter. Lordy, I hope y'all aren't disappointed.**

**For those unfamiliar with it, _This Woman's Work_ is a Kate Bush song that I love. It inspires all kinds of angsty Caryl goodness for me, and really seems to encompass Season 5 Carol/Caryl in particular.**

**The Walking Dead does not belong to me. Duh. Action and dialogue taken from episodes belong to their respective copyright holders. No infringement is intended.**

* * *

><p>Disappearing into the woods outside of Terminus, Carol headed back along the fence toward the place where the group of prisoners had scaled it. Forced to move more carefully after shedding her walker disguise, she picked her way slowly through the trees. And as she got closer, her steps slowed even more. These people were her family, and she loved them. She would do anything for them. But after what she'd done for them at the prison, she wasn't sure they would still consider her <em>their<em> family.

Tyreese hadn't known, but that didn't mean Rick hadn't told others. And he'd be telling his version – that she was cold. A danger to them. A killer.

She stopped. _No one will want you there_.

And after what she'd had to do in the pecan grove, maybe Rick was right. Her stomach lurched at the memory, and she swallowed hard to keep down the little she'd eaten that day.

Blowing a shaky breath, she hefted the crossbow's strap higher on her shoulder. One thing at a time. She had to reunite Tyreese and Judith with Rick and whoever else was with him. Everything else could wait.

When she reached the place where they had hopped the fence, she picked up their trail and followed. The path wasn't difficult to see – a large group had escaped. With luck, at least some of them would be from the prison.

Carol slipped through the trees like a ghost, and it wasn't long before she heard the murmur of voices from up ahead. When the group finally came into view, she stopped in her tracks. All she could do was stare. It was more than she could have hoped for – so many of her family were right here in front of her. Alive. Then her eyes locked onto a tattered set of angel wings and she lost the ability to breathe.

He'd made it out.

A heavy knot in her belly she hadn't even been aware of loosened. But an instant later, a thrill of fear shot through her – what had Rick told him? A twig cracked under her foot, catching Daryl's ear. He turned to look, and she held her breath again, waiting uncertainly for his reaction.

Their eyes met, and she nearly staggered under the weight of it. It felt like an eternity as he just looked at her in shock at first. But then he ran – ran! – to her and swept her up in a crushing embrace, but she didn't mind the pain of her bruised rib in the least. Relief broke through the fear in her heart as he clung to her _so_ tightly. Something inside her swelled to bursting, bringing tears with it. He was alive! He was alive, and he was happy she was here.

She almost couldn't believe it was real – his arms around her, holding her as if he might never let her go. When finally he did, he shifted and paced in front of her as though his body couldn't contain whatever feelings churned under the surface. And just when she thought he might say something, his face crumpled, and he dropped his head to her shoulder instead. She smiled and touched his face, his neck – reassuring both of them that they were _here_. Together.

Rick approached then, and Daryl stepped aside to make way, though he didn't stop his fidgeting. She tensed again as Rick eyed her.

"Did you do that?" he asked.

She hesitated briefly, then nodded. Without a pause, he pulled her into an embrace, and she could feel him trembling. He whispered in her ear, "Thank you."

Carol let out a breath. For now, it seemed everything would be all right.

_Until they find out what you did in the grove._ The thought was just a whisper, but it sobered her instantly.

One thing at a time.

When he pulled away, she told him, "You have to come with me."

He looked at her, but instead of questioning it, he simply nodded.

In a twisted sort of receiving line, the others from the prison came up to greet her, smiling and hugging her with tears in their eyes, though she felt oddly out of place, as if she were an impostor no one had discovered yet. Meanwhile, a bag of guns was dug free from the ground, and the weapons and supplies handed out.

Carol pointed the way, and most of the group started off, though she hung back for a moment. Now that the excitement of their escape from Terminus had calmed, Daryl seemed almost reluctant to approach, though he was never more than a few steps away, and his eyes never left her. She pulled the crossbow from her shoulder and offered it to him. He stepped forward at last, reaching out to accept it.

After checking it over and slinging it across his back, he grunted, "Can't believe you brought it out with you."

"Had to," she explained. "I had to believe I'd be able to return it to you."

He nodded once, and the corner of his mouth tipped up.

They trudged on in silence with Carol leading the way to the little cabin. Daryl stuck right at her side the whole time. She'd lost so much over the last weeks, she'd forgotten what it was like to have something good. Glancing back over her shoulder, she marveled at being with so many of her prison family again. She saw Maggie looking at her, and when their eyes met, the younger woman smiled, but it felt plastic, and she looked hurriedly away. The small bit of happiness Carol had found faded just a little. _She knows. She knows you don't belong here._

As the cabin came into view, Tyreese stepped onto the porch with Judith in his arms. In a flurry of movement, Rick, Carl, and Sasha ran ahead to reunite with those they thought they'd lost. Despite her unease, Carol couldn't help but smile at their joy, and pride filled her knowing she'd been part of making it happen. At least she'd managed to keep one little girl alive.

_Only one. And that was mostly Tyreese's doing._

They took a small break there at the cabin as hugs and introductions went around. Carol stood to the side and watched it all. She was relieved Tyreese seemed to have gotten past his reluctance to kill. In terms of the world before walkers, it seemed a terrible thing to think about someone, but things were different now. Without the resolve to kill when needed, without hesitation...he wouldn't survive. And he wouldn't be able to help the rest of them survive.

Just then, Rick suggested they get moving again, to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Terminus before nightfall. Folks picked up weapons, shouldered packs, and headed off into the trees. When they reached one of the many railroad tracks, they turned to follow it away from the black column of smoke in the sky.

After an hour or so of walking in silence, she was nudged out of her thoughts as Carl stepped alongside her.

"Carol?"

"Carl." She dredged up a smile for him. God, it seemed like he'd grown a foot since she last saw him at the prison.

He walked beside her looking awkward in that way only teenagers can. "I just wanted to say thanks...for coming in after us. If you hadn't, I think we'd all be dead right now."

"Maybe. But I just gave you an opportunity. You saved yourselves," she said softly.

The young man threw his arms around her in a clumsy hug, pulling them both to a stop. "Thanks for giving us a shot, then." He stepped back again, eyes on the ground. "You came for us. Just you against all of them. You stepped up and did something, and we're alive because of it."

Glancing back up, he raised his eyebrows at her and grinned. "That's pretty bad-ass."

The boy turned to rejoin his father and Judith up ahead. Carol watched him go before trudging again down the tracks. She heard Daryl approach from the other side.

"Gonna get yourself a fan club there," he murmured, a hint of his old humor brightening his voice.

Turning, she met his eyes solemnly. "I don't think so."

He frowned a bit, but didn't say anything else.

They walked the rest of the day with only a few short breaks. Daryl always seemed to be beside her, and as grateful as she was to have found him safe, his steady scrutiny was beginning to make her edgy. His watchful eyes seemed to see right through to her heart, leaving her feeling raw and exposed. For a while, he kept his thoughts to himself, but eventually, curiosity or maybe a need to connect drove him to speak.

"How'd you know what happened at the prison? About Terminus? How'd you find us?" Daryl asked quietly. "I know Rick left you...and with the rest of us gettin' scattered? Shit, I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Carol shifted the rifle strap on her shoulder and glanced at him sidelong. She walked for a bit before answering. "I saw the smoke and went back. The Governor was already there, the fences were down, and the prison was burning. There was no way to get close, and even if I could, there wasn't much I could do. But I saw Tyreese running into the trees with...with Judith." Biting her lip, she finished quickly. "We followed the signs. Got lucky."

Daryl nodded, but she got the feeling he knew she wasn't quite telling him the truth.

On one of the breaks, Carol managed to slip away from him to the creek to fill some water bottles. As she crouched by the water, the rustling of leaves alerted her to another presence. Tyreese stepped through the underbrush to join her at the creek's edge. Despite everything that had happened, she felt strangely more at ease with him than she did with anyone else in the group, including Daryl. That struck her as sad, since things between her and Ty were anything but easy.

Ty spoke just loud enough to be heard over the trickling water. "Talked to Rick. Some of them know what you did...at the prison. Daryl. Maggie. They accept it. You wouldn't be here if they didn't."

Carol wasn't so sure about the last part. But Ty continued.

"Gonna talk to the rest of them. Tell 'em to accept it, too."

Frowning a bit, she replied, "They don't have to."

"No," Ty insisted. "They do. They just do."

Carol glanced over, disturbed that he expected to have to defend her right to stay. _They don't want you._

Her stomach clenched when he added, "We don't need to tell them about the girls. I don't want to."

"Why?"

"I just need to forget it."

Forget. _Could_ she forget it? Did she even want to? Without planning to, she'd lied by omission to Daryl about the girls earlier. She mulled Ty's words over as they finished filling the bottles and returned to the group just in time to be on their way again. As the afternoon waned, she still couldn't sort out her feelings about the conversation with Tyreese, but she knew she no longer felt at ease with him.

Shortly before dusk, Rick called a halt, and they went about setting up camp. After they'd eaten and started settling in for the night, Daryl stopped beside her.

"I'm takin' watch. Why'nt you come with me?"

She looked up at his face, full of hope and apprehension, and the 'no' died before it passed her lips. It just wasn't in her to refuse him. If she joined him, maybe she could find some way to alleviate his concern for her enough to stop his constant hovering. Before she could form a new answer, though, Rick caught her eye from over Daryl's shoulder, clearly wanting to speak with her.

Acid washed through her gut. But she smiled, albeit wryly, and told Daryl, "You go ahead. I'll be there in a minute."

His head dipped in a quick nod, and he left.

Rick approached, but waited until everyone moved away to keep their words private. In a hushed voice, he told her, "I owe you everything."

The semi-apologetic tone put her immediately on the defensive. It was the same tactic Ed used over and over again, convincing her to forgive him for inexcusable abuses. Rick had _abandoned_ her. "You owe Tyreese. _He_ was at the prison."

"You got back there," Rick insisted.

Digging into her pocket, she pulled out the watch she'd taken from Terminus. She gave it a long look, then held it out to him. At his puzzled expression, she explained, "It was in one of their storerooms."

Taking the watch, he murmured, "I saw them kill him...that kid."

Then he dug into his own pocket and offered her back the broken watch Ed had given her so long ago.

She stared at it, seeing not a watch, but her old life. By offering it back, Rick was asking her to go back to the way she was before. The ever-smoldering anger deep inside her flared hot again. That person was gone – burned away. Even if she _could_ go back, she would _never_ be that person again.

Pressing her lips together, she shook her head. Not trusting her voice, she grunted a negative. "Hm-mm."

He shifted closer and spoke quietly, "I still don't know about what you did...but I know you knew some things I didn't. I sent you away to this-"

She cut him off abruptly with a challenge in her eyes. "You said I could survive. You were right."

Nodding, he repeated, "I sent you away to this, and now we're joining you." He paused, then met her gaze directly. "Will you have us?"

_Will you have us? _The phrase rang in her head. Will _you_ have _us? _With the shock of a slap in the face, the words confirmed what she'd been feeling since the escape from Terminus. It was her and them. She was no longer a part of _'us'_. Everything he'd said tonight could be taken for an apology or an olive branch, but underneath he was just reminding her of her place. All she heard was the sound of the locked car door in that cul-de-sac shutting her out.

She smiled tightly with a clenched jaw and did her best to nod.

"Thank you," he murmured, leaving Carol to watch him go, heading off to join his family by the fire.


	3. Bombshell

**We continue from Daryl's perspective now.**

**Any action and dialogue from episodes of The Walking Dead belong to their respective copyright holders. No infringement is intended, and I do not profit from this.**

* * *

><p>Daryl stuck like a tick to Carol's side as they walked for the rest of the day. All the time they'd been apart, he hadn't had a chance to process it – to really think about never seeing her again. Rick had dropped a bomb on him in that cell block when he said he'd abandoned Carol, blowing a hole in his life and leaving a smoking crater where his heart had been. And before that even started to sink in, the Governor had come and destroyed everything that remained. Since then it had been a constant, nightmare struggle just to stay alive. Even if there had been time to think, he couldn't cope with it all – there was just too fucking much.<p>

But now, _somehow_, they were together again. She'd turned up after their escape from Terminus looking like a grubby avenging angel, and for a second he thought he'd finally cracked and was seeing things like Rick had after Lori died. When he realized she was no vision, the crushing relief just about killed him. He couldn't reach her fast enough, couldn't hold her close enough. All the crazy shit tumbling around inside him was so overwhelming, he was left tongue-tied and teary-eyed, and he was so goddamn happy to see her, he didn't give a _shit_ that everyone was staring.

Now they walked the tracks, and he kept his mouth shut for the most part – just so damn grateful Carol had come back to them. But as the day wore on, a burr of worry made his brain itch, and though he watched her carefully, he couldn't quite pinpoint the reason. Of course, they'd all been through hell the last little while, but still, she seemed..._off_ somehow. The more he watched, the more clear it was that something was very wrong.

Near dusk, the group found a place to camp for the night. Daryl took watch a little way from where the others were bedding down. He chewed thoughtfully on the inside of his cheek as he waited for Carol to join him. She'd never exactly been a chatterbox, but today she'd hardly said a word. Maybe with the little bit of privacy that being on watch afforded them, she'd tell him what was bothering her.

She made almost no noise when she finally showed up, nearly sneaking up on him completely. Just before she came alongside him, he turned, both surprised and impressed with her stealth. When had she gotten so good at that? Giving her a quirk of a smile in welcome, he considered how far she'd come in this shitty fucking world. Since they'd met at the quarry, she'd become confident, strong, and independent. It made him proud that she'd survived on her own after Rick dumped her out here. Not just survived, but saved all of their sorry asses to boot. His smile warmed a bit thinking of the hellfire she'd rained down on Terminus. She really was one hell of a woman.

Carol answered his smile with only the ghost of one of her own as she parked herself on a tree root. Her eyes, usually so expressive and bright, were hollow. She wouldn't look at him other than the briefest of glances, and even then it was more like the wary regard of a stranger.

He sat nearby on a rock and sighed, resting his chin on the butt of his crossbow. He'd hoped she would open up to him, but instead she seemed even more squirrelly and closed off than before. What the fuck had happened to her out there?

The longer he watched her, the more she squirmed.

"I don't wanna talk about it. I can't." She answered the question Daryl hadn't asked. "I just need to forget it."

She turned then, looking directly at him for the first time since they'd left the cabin. Whatever'd happened out there had devastated her. He could see the aftermath in her haunted eyes and the tightness of her jaw. He was fairly sure she was trying to convince _herself_ as much as him that putting it behind her was for the best. Fine – if she needed some space, he could give it to her. At least for now. Fuck knew she'd done the same for him a hundred times.

"A'ight," he agreed. Daryl held her eyes and didn't look away. She could have her space, but he wasn't willing to let her run away completely.

An instant later, he was on his feet with his crossbow at the ready, all his attention focused out into the blackness. A rustle in the underbrush... It felt wrong – not a natural sound of the forest. As he crept forward, he held up a hand to keep Carol still so he could listen, but he heard nothing but crickets.

After a moment, he relaxed a bit. "'S nothin'." Stepping back to his rock, he turned to glare at the trees some more. Whatever had made the noise, at least it wasn't walkers, but the hairs on his arms wouldn't stand down. The creeping certainty that something or someone was watching them made him stay on his feet. He didn't know if Carol could feel it, but she stayed standing, too, scanning the forest around them.

He listened for several more minutes, but didn't hear anything else, so he finally sat back down. Maybe it really was nothing. Maybe it wasn't. In the morning he'd come back to check for traces of who- or whatever might've been out there.

He turned back to Carol, who was following his lead and sitting on her root again, although she kept her attention out on the trees. Her shoulders were hunched tight, like she was just waiting for life to try and knock her down again. She'd become confident and strong, but he wondered if her strength might have turned brittle under so much pressure. And he hoped her new-found independence didn't mean she would shut him out completely – not now, when they needed each other so much. He frowned. Maybe she didn't, though. What if she didn't need him the way he needed her?

The tic in his cheek jumped. That thought was uncomfortable, so he pushed it aside.

Sighing, he scratched his beard scruff. He'd said he would give her some space, but it was harder than he thought. "If you're tired, you should go on and get some sleep. I'm good here."

She studied him in the faint moonlight, then shook her head. "It's safer to watch in pairs when we're camped in the open, since we have the numbers."

He nodded and went back to scanning the trees around them. He'd given her an out, and she didn't take it. That was a good sign, right? He thought it might be, although they kept watch in silence for the rest of their shift.

Maggie and Glenn came to relieve them a few hours later. Carol slipped away without a word, and Daryl chewed his lip as she disappeared between the trees.

"Keep sharp," he told the couple. "Heard some noises a while back. Felt like we were bein' watched."

Maggie nodded and settled herself on Daryl's rock.

Glenn muttered under his breath, "Creepy much?"

Daryl snorted and headed back through the trees to where the others were sleeping. A quick glance confirmed what he'd expected. Carol had huddled up to sleep on the outskirts of the group with her back to the others. His heart sank. She was keeping herself distant, and he wasn't used to that. She had always been his comfort zone – accepting, supportive, and safe. He thought he'd been the same thing to her, but it seemed she wanted nothing from him now.

* * *

><p>In the morning, he told Rick his suspicions about the watcher in the woods. Rick studied the ground nodding as Daryl laid it out. "You all can go ahead and get walkin'. I'll see if I can find any sign that someone was there, then catch up. Maybe hunt us up a few critters on the way."<p>

Rick clapped him on the shoulder. "A'right. Watch your back, brother."

"You, too," he replied.

Daryl sneaked a glance across to where Carol was rummaging through her pack. She'd lifted her chin in greeting to him this morning, but hadn't spoken to him at all. He didn't like the distance she was keeping between them, but the more he tried to close it, the harder she pushed back.

Discouraged, he headed back to the little clearing, and though he searched for a good half hour or more, he couldn't see any trace of anything but his own people. Even so, uneasiness clung to his skin like the humid morning dew. Working his way back to the group, he managed to skewer a few squirrels to add to their meager food supply.

When he caught up, he told Rick what he found – or rather, didn't find. After that, as they plodded on through the hours, he kept one eye on Carol even as she seemed to be actively avoiding him. The group didn't walk in any kind of formation – they shifted and flowed, walking in pairs or clusters or alone, but never in the same place for long. But wherever Daryl was, she always managed to keep at least one person between them. The subtle rebuff stung, but he tried to accept it as part of giving her the space she needed.

At one point, he was trailing at the back of the group when Tyreese dropped back to walk with him.

"I talked to Rick," Ty murmured to keep from being overheard. "He said he told you...about Karen and David."

Daryl kept his face stone still.

Tyreese blinked repeatedly before continuing. "You were there. You saw how I was when I first found 'em." He ducked his head, looking ashamed. "I just wanted you to know that Carol told me what happened. I forgave her."

"You did?" Daryl had a hard time reconciling forgiveness with the berserker rage he'd witnessed at the prison.

"I did," Ty confirmed. "I had to. But I just wanted you to know she's in no danger from me."

With a cautious nod, Daryl said, "Appreciate that."

"I was just lucky she found the girls and me so quick after the prison fell. Never woulda made it without her."

Daryl glanced up at the big man. "The girls? It wasn't just you and Asskicker?"

Tyreese's mouth pressed tight and he blinked hard again. His face twitched, and he seemed to fight himself about what to say next. "I left the prison with Lizzie and Mika, too."

"Shit... I didn't know," whispered Daryl. The air suddenly felt too thick to breathe.

"Well. Now you do." Ty paused and cleared his throat. "Go gentle with her. I know nobody had it easy after we all scattered, but that woman's gone through more than anyone ever should."

"That was already true."

"Naw, man. Not like now." Ty's dark eyes burned into Daryl before he picked up his pace to join his sister up ahead.


End file.
